The prior art contains many arrangements for providing an attachment ring or loop at the end of a steel cable. The prior art also includes many arrangements for removing a felled tree (a log) from a forest floor.
A common method of removing a log from a forest floor includes attaching the log to a drag cable that is connected at an opposite end to a retraction drive motor. Activation of the motor causes the log to be drug or lifted to a desired location.
Log attachment lines (commonly termed "chokers") are attached to the logs and coupled to the drag cable. Chokers usually consist of a short piece of cable that includes at one end a log attachment mechanism and at the opposite end a drag cable attachment mechanism. The drag line or drag cable attachment mechanism frequently contains a looped back portion of line (forming an "eye") and may contain in addition a circular steel ring provided through the eye that permits attachment by a snap, bell or hook on the end of the drag cable.
While beneficial to some extent, this prior art arrangement has several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the section where the drag line or circular ring contacts the eye often wears out and a substantial section of line is required to reform the eye, hence appreciably reducing the length of choker. Other disadvantages include that (1) it is difficult to reform a worn eye (i.e., it is difficult to braid, thread or otherwise reconnect the end of a cable along a cable segment), (2) the eye is large and tends to get caught on brush (forest plants), (3) broken strands within the eye are a hazard to workers, and (4) the eye is undesirably heavy because a significant amount of cable is required for its formation.
Another disadvantage of this arrangement is that the circular ring tends to bend under the force exerted by the retraction motor (the "drag force"), resulting in a reduction in structural integrity and an increase in the possibility of ring failure. To reduce the potential of ring failure, excessively heavy rings are often used.
With regard to non-choker applications, pear-shaped rings that withstand more stretching force than circular rings are known in the art. Cylindrical nubs with wedge shaped internal cavities are also known. Conventional methods of mounting these nubs to a cable include pouring a molten lead-zinc composite into the wedge cavity through which the cable is inserted. The solidified (cooled) composite serves to steadfastly hold the cable within the nub. The necessity of heating and cooling the composite to reposition a nub is disadvantageously burdensome. The use of lead, a known toxin, is another disadvantageous aspect of this arrangement.